The Sweetest 16
by Digital Soul
Summary: Rika's sixteenth birthday is today, but has everyone forgotten? Ryuki, oneshot


**Author's Notes-** Well, this is my first oneshot. PLEASE tell me that it doesn't suck...

----

Rika Nonaka sat in the dark, sulking. Today was her sixteenth birthday. Four years since D-Reaper. She should have been out celebrating with her friends, as her mother frustratedly pointed out. But she wasn't. She was sitting in her room with the lights off, with "Wake me up when September ends" on repeat.

Her friends didn't remember her birthday, not even Ryo, the loverboy that he was. Not a single phone call. No cards. No cake, no gifts... Some B-day. And her sweet 16, no less. Perfect freaking day.

And so she sat, feeling sorry for herself. That is, until her cellphone rang. "Hello?" She was less than enthusiastic.

"Er... Rika? It's Jeri." She instantly brightened. Could it be? Someone remembered?

"Hi, Jeri. What is it? I'm kind of busy drowning my sorrows in diet Coke."

"Drown your sorrows later! Come to Takato's house, sulky. Bye."

Her phone had "CALL ENDED" on the screen. "Er... Mom? I guess I'm goin' out for a while."

----

When she got to Takato's house, she found all the lights off. She had difficulty climbing the stairs that led from the bakery to Takato's apartment, because it was pitch-back in the stairwell. She opened the door. "Hello?"

The lights flickered on. "SURPRISE!" Everyone that she knew popped out from behind furniture except Kenta, who had turned the lights on. "Happy Birthday!"

"Oh, guys... You didn't have to..."

It was Takato that answered. "Of course we did! It's your sweet sixteen! What kind of friends would we be if we forgot?"

"Pretty bad ones," said Henry, who was draping a cape around Rika's shoulders and putting a tiara on her head.

"Bad? We'd suck as friends if we did that," said Kazu, who put a bouqet of flowers into her hands.

"Kazu, you dork! You got me flowers?"

"No, Ryo did. I'm just a delivery boy."

"Where is Ryo, anyway?" Takato asked.

Kazu looked at his watch. "Should be here any minute."

"But while we're waiting," Jeri said, "Let's make with the birthday merryment!"

----

And "birthday merryment" there was. They played pin the ears on the Renamon, hit the Kazu with a stick(a game of Rika's invention), and they even had a digimon drawing contest, which Takato won.

Ryo walked in half-way into their digimon card game match. "So," Rika said, "Look who showed up for my birthday, an hour late."

He smiled. "Sorry. It took two days to prepare your gift, and an hour today to put on the finishing touches."

"Speaking of gifts," Kenta said, "Let's have Rika open hers!"

"Aren't we supposed to have cake first?" said Jeri.

"We don't have to." said Henry. "Yeah, let's get the present opening out of the way."

They all made a circle around Rika. "Open mine first!" squeeled Jeri, handing her a box with blue wrapping paper.

Rika tore the paper off and opened the box, which had a T-shirt in it. She unfolded th shirt. It was black and had the words "Proud not to be an American idiot" on it. "Thanks, Jeri!"

She smiled. "I know how much you like Green Day, and I thought I'd get it for you. Isn't it nice?"

Rika nodded as she was handed Kazu's present. It was a punching bag with a picture of his face on it. "To replace me," he said, smiling.

"Sorry, Kazu, but no punching bag will replace you as my favorite target." Someone handed her a box marked "From: Henry". She tore it open.

"Oh, cool! Thanks, Henry!" It was the white outfit that martial artists wore, complete with black belt.

Takato handed her a number of boxes. "Gee, Takato, a million gifts not enough?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't decide what to get you, so I made a bunch of stuff."

She opened the first box. It contained three sugar cookies. One was shaped like her head, another like Renamon's head, and the last one like a D-power. She opened the second box. Inside it was a framed drawing of her, which was actually very good. "You drew this? Wow."

The third, fourth, and fifth boxes all had shirts in them. They were all a different color, but they all said the same thing: "Do you know the Muffin Man?"

The sixth and last box from Takato had a book in it, entitled "Card Games and Their Champions". She gave him a quizzical look. "You're in chapter six, look!" he said. She opened the book.

"Wow! I'm in a book! And there's even a picture of me beating some kid in a card game. Thanks!"

The last box was from Kenta. It was the video game "Digimon World 4". "Since I'm not really a gamer, I'll have to buy a gamexhark to go with this, you know." He laughed.

"One step ahead of you." He handed her another box, and winked. "I knew you were a cheater."

Ryo's gift was a lot smaller than the rest. She opened it. She stared at the box's contents. Ryo walked over and stared at them, too. "Well," he said, "Do you like them?"

She nodded. How could she not? Her favorite thing to wear, embedded with her favorite stone. "Of course you had to get the perfect gift..." she said.

Well, I suppose it's about time I told you what they are. A pair of sapphire earrings. "How did you know that sapphires are my favorite?" she asked.

He laughed. "About a month's worth of research went into those earrings. I'm glad you like them."

----

After Rika had stopped chasing Ryo around for kissing her on the cheek, Takato and Henry brought out a chocolate cake shaped into the number 16. They all sang happy birthday, and Rika blew out her candles. And, after everyone had had at least three peices of cake each, Ryo called Rika into a very shadowy corner of the room. "There's more to your present," he said, whispering.

"Well," she said, "Where is it?"

He shook his head. "It's not something that you can put in a box. Meet me in the park after the party."

She wanted to question him, but he walked back to the table and started a conversation with Takato, so she was forced to sit and wait.

----

An hour after the party, Ryo was leading Rika to a remote part of Shinjuku park. "Where are you taking me, Akiyama?" she asked.

"You'll see."

He stopped in a clearing that Rika didn't know existed. Ryo stared at his watch. "5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

There was an extremely loud whirring noise, and they both looked up. In the sky, a skywriter was flying, leaving the words "I love you, Rika" in it's wake. All she could do was stare.

"Do you really...?"

He nodded. "Since the day we met."

She smiled. "Well, I guess you leave me with no choice..." She kissed him. She had to stand on her tip-toes to do it, but it happened.

It was his turn to smile. "I love you, Rika Nonaka."

"And I love you, crazy hormonal boy."

----

**Author's Notes- **Well, there's my first Ryuki oneshot. G'night, all you crazy hormonal boys and girls.


End file.
